Russian indicted in U.S. on charges of running bitcoin laundering ring

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – A Russian national suspected of being the mastermind behind a crypto-currency exchange has been indicted by a grand jury in California on money laundering charges, the U.S. Justice Department said yesterday.

Alexander Vinnik, who was arrested in Greece on Tuesday, allegedly operated the BTC-e virtual currency exchange and used it to launder money, including funds from the hack of Mt. Gox, an earlier digital currency exchange that eventually failed, the Justice Department said in a statement.